Monday, May 21, 2012

N.L. FAAB Log: May 21, 2012

Amarista came to the Padres in the Ernesto Frieri
deal. He now takes over the spot
formerly held by Orlando Hudson.
Amarista hit .313 in his minor league career, has good speed, and plays
a variety of positions. He is the
starting second baseman for the Friars until he stops hitting, and I think he
is going to hit. It is tough to find
starters in the free agent pool in deep leagues; the bids should be relatively
aggressive. Even mixed league players in
need of speed should look to Amarista as a lower tier option.

Cabrera has tried, and failed, to make an impact at the major league level. As a 22 year old in 2009, he stole 25 bases and hit just well enough to give us hope. Since then, he has barely hit .255 (his 2009 average) combined. His pure speed (15 steals and 0 caught this year) and his .389 OBP in AAA give us hope once again, hope I am sure will be quickly dashed.

I wrote about Ishikawa back on May 2. He is getting the majority of at-bats in Mat Gamel's absence and he is producing. Do not expect him to hit for a lot of average; he is, however, another essential starter available one-quarter way through the season.

Herrera is not really a prospect. On the other hand, he is locked in a battle with Justin Sellers for Mark Ellis' job (by the way, the fact that Ellis was about 4-5 hours away from a potential amputation of his leg is really scary stuff - best wishes to him during his recovery). Herrera can play the field well enough, and he can flat out run. He earned his call-up with a .358 average so far in AAA, and I anticipate he wins the job outright. Ellis will not be back for about six weeks, and Herrera could easily steal 10-15 bases in that time.

Guerra was waived in my home league. Strikeouts count, so Guerra is a fair pickup in deeper NL-only leagues counting that stat. Well, and he could close again (though Kenley Jensen appears fairly solid).

Culberson is a former sandwich pick. He has some pop in his bat, and he may steal some at-bats. If you really need someone up the middle, he is a fallback from the much more expensive Amarista, Cabrera and Herrera.

Coghlan really has not done anything since his rookie year, suffering from a myriad of injuries and complete ineffectiveness. If he gets hot, you want him, because he could pick up at-bats quickly, particularly if Logan Morrison moves to first base.